In Mark chapter six, verse 20,
I'd like to read a verse of scripture to you. It says for Herod feared
John knowing that he was a just man and, and holy and observed
him. And when he heard him, he did
many things and heard him gladly. Now he had John. put into prison
and yet he'd have him come out and preach to him. And when he
heard him, scripture says he did many things and he heard
him gladly. I've entitled this message, things
that Herod did not do. Who was Herod? Well, there are
four Herods mentioned in the scripture. We considered one
of them this morning. Herod, the one we read about now, his
daddy, who had all the two year olds killed in Bethlehem. And then there was this Herod
who had John the Baptist beheaded and his brother, Philip Herod. And then there was Herod Agrippa.
We read of him in Acts chapter 12. You will remember that he
gave the people an oration and they said, it's the speech of
a God. and not of a man. And the scripture
says that the Lord smote him and he was eaten with worms and
gave up the ghost because he gave not God the glory. Now we're going to consider this
very conflicted man, Herod. In Luke chapter nine, verse seven,
now Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was done by him.
He heard of the miracles the Lord performed. He healed the
sick. He gave sight to the blind. He
cleansed lepers. He raised the dead. As a matter
of fact, in the previous chapter, he'd raised somebody from the
dead and Herod heard all of these things. And he was perplexed. Uh, he was confused. He was in
despair. He felt greatly concerned because
it was said of some that John was risen from the dead. That
same one I had beheaded. He has risen from the dead and
he was scared to death. And he felt much pangs of conscience
and of some that Elias had appeared and of others that one of the
old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John, have I
beheaded? And I know he said this with
guilt. And he says, who is this of whom I hear such things? And
he desired to see him. He desired to see the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me back to Mark 6.
Do you remember the story of Herod having John the Baptist
beheaded? Now, Herod had been thrown into
prison by John the Baptist. Before you get to Mark 6, look
at Luke 3, verse 19. But Herod the Tetrarch, being
reproved, Luke 3, 19, by him, John the Baptist, for Herodias,
his brother Philip's wife, He married his brother, Phillip's
wife. And for all the evils, which Herod had done added yet
this above all that he shut up John in prison. He had John put
in prison. Now look in Mark chapter six. Beginning in verse 14. And King Herod heard of him. the Lord Jesus Christ, for his
name was spread abroad. And he said that John the Baptist
was risen from the dead and therefore mighty works to show forth themselves
in him. Others said that it's Elias and
others said that it's a prophet or is one of the prophets. But
when Herod heard thereof, he said, it's John whom I beheaded.
He is risen from the dead. Now he had some kind of morbid
fascination with John. He thought John was risen from
the dead. He, Thought great things of John
and he had great pains of conscience. He was guilty. He was afraid.
He thought what's going to happen to me. I beheaded him and here
he has been raised from the dead. Verse 17, for Herod himself had
sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison
for Herodias sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married
her. This was wrong. What had been done? He took his
brother's wife and married her. For John had said unto Herod,
it's not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore
Herodias had a quarrel against him, the wife. She had a quarrel
against him and would have killed him, but she could not for Herod
feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy. And
he observed him. And when he heard him, he did
many things and he heard him gladly. He had a fear of John. He had a kind of respect for
John that made him fear doing him wrong. And he had some kind
of respect for what he considered was justice and holiness. He feared John because he was
a just man and he was holy and he observed John and he kept
him safe. And he used to listen to John's
preaching and he'd be impressed. He heard him gladly, the scripture
says. When he'd hear John the Baptist preach, that same one
that he had shut up into prison, he'd hear him gladly, and he
would be moved to do many things. You can see the conflict of this
man. He heard him gladly, yet he kept him in prison. John's
preaching inspired him to some kind of action. I have no doubt
that he would vow to change, to reform his life, to give up
vicious habits and try to keep God's law. Oh, he would resolve
every time he heard John the Baptist, I'm going to change.
I'm going to change. Things are going to be different.
He actually had some commendable traits in his character and his
conscience hadn't quit working yet, though it soon would, as
we'll see. Verse 21, let's go on reading.
And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday
made a supper to his lords, his high captain and chief of states
of Galilee. And when the daughter of the
said Herodias came in, his stepdaughter, and danced and pleased Herod
and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, ask
of me whatsoever thou wilt and I'll give it to thee. And he
said this in front of everybody, and he swear unto her, whatsoever
thou shalt ask of me, I'll give it unto thee under the half of
my kingdom. And she went forth and said to
her mother, what shall I ask? And she said, the head of John
the Baptist. I want his head brought back
to me on a plate. I want him beheaded. When I was a little boy, this
is true. Six or seven years old. I thought
I wanted to be a preacher then. That's strange, but I did. And
I heard Henry Mahan preach on this passage of scripture and
I announced to him, I don't want to be a preacher anymore. Preachers
get their heads cut off. Verse 25, And she came in straightway
with haste unto the king, Herod, and asked, saying, I will that
thou give me by and by in a charger, in a plate, the head of John
the Baptist. Now remember what John the Baptist,
who he was and what Herod thought of him. He was impressed with
this man. And the king was exceeding sorry, yet for his oath's sake
and for their sakes would set with him. He would not reject
her. And immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded
his head to be brought. Now, can you imagine how he felt
during this time? I mean, I don't know how long
it took, but an executioner went down to the prison, beheaded
John the Baptist and brought his head back in a plate and
brought his head in a charger verse 28 and gave it to the damsel
and the damsel gave it to her mother. What a sad story. And we know that this man that
You see in him such weakness, such conflict, such sinfulness,
so much of what you and I would be apart from the grace of God.
You see that? He'd be me and you apart from
the grace of God. But we know that God raised this
man up to accomplish his purpose. I love that scripture in Acts
chapter four, for of a truth against thy holy child, Jesus,
whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel. We're gathered together for to
do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to
be done. Everything Herod did was determined
before by God for him to do. You know, that's the way it is
with everything. He is an absolute sovereign control. But Herod
at verse 20, Mark chapter six, Herod feared John. knowing that
it was a just man and a holy and he observed him. And when
he heard him, he did many things and he heard him gladly. Now,
Herod was one of those people who had enough religion to make
him miserable. That's about the way you describe this man. He
felt guilty. He felt conflicted. He was always
under the gun. He had just enough religion to
make him miserable. He didn't know anything of the
freedom of Christ, the freedom of grace. He didn't know anything
of the joy of the forgiveness of sins. He didn't know anything
of the joy of love to God. He knew nothing of this. He simply
heard John gladly and he did many things And he was very miserable
and he had an accusing conscience, which one day would be quieted
as we shall see. Now look in Luke chapter 23. Here's John a couple of years
later, or here is Herod a couple of years later. It's hard telling what all he
did when he did these many things, good things. straightened up
his life, maybe gave, did all kinds of things. But look here
in Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse six. When Pilate heard
of Galilee, he asked whether the man were Galilean, talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ when he was on trial before Pilate.
And as soon as he knew that he belonged into Herod's jurisdiction,
he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that
time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad. Remember,
he desired to see him. He was exceeding glad for he
was desirous to see him of a long season because he'd heard many
things of him and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by
him. Then he questioned with him in
many words, but he answered him nothing. The Lord didn't even
respond to all the different questions he asked. And I'm sure
Herod got mad about this. Here, I wanted to see you perform
a miracle. I wanted to see you do something
and you're not even answering me. So look what happened. Verse
10, and the chief priests and scribes stood vehemently accused
him and Herod with his men of war set him at naught. What more criminal thing could
somebody do than to set at naught, to despise and contend the Son
of God? He set him at naught and they
mocked him and they arrayed him in a gorgeous robe. Herod took
one of his own robes, a very expensive, costly royal robe,
and he put it upon him, mocking him. and send him again to Pilate.
And the same day, I think this is so interesting, the same day
Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before they were
an enmity between themselves. Now people can be enemies, but
they can get together and become friends once against the Lord
Jesus Christ. You've seen that many times. And Pilate, verse
13, When he had called together the chief priests and the rulers
and the people said unto them, you've brought this man into
me as one that perverts the people. And behold, I've examined him
before you and I found no fault in this man touching those things
wherever you accuse him. No, nor yet Herod, for I sent
you to him and lo, nothing worthy of death is done in him." Now
that was even the judgment of Herod. Now Herod did many things. And he heard John the Baptist
gladly. He would get excited about hearing
him, and he would listen to what he had to say, and it would cause
him to do things. But you know, what I entitled
this message is, Things Herod Never Did. While he did many
things, There are some things that Herod never did. Now, I want you, by the grace
of God, to listen as if this was the last sermon you'd ever
hear. Wouldn't that be a blessing if
the Lord would enable us and me to preach this message like
it's the last message I'll ever preach? Things Herod did not
do. He never worshiped John's master. He listened to John the Baptist
preach. And don't think that the only thing John did was tell
him about that you shouldn't be with your brother's wife.
I guarantee you John told him about the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. That was his message. He heard
him say, He must increase and I must decrease. He heard all
the glorious things John said of the Son. The Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that hath the
Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life, but the
wrath of God abides on him." He told him of the glory of the
Son of God. He preached to him a bunch. He'd
come out from prison and preach to him. He'd tell him about the
Lord's miraculous virgin birth. He would tell him about who Jesus
Christ really is, the promised Messiah. Herod never worshipped. Turn with me to John chapter
nine for a moment. Verse 35, Jesus heard that they'd
cast him out. He was excommunicated from the
temple. And when he found him, he said unto him, that man that
he'd given sight to, that had been born blind, dost thou believe
on the son of God? He answered and said, who is
he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him,
Thou hast both seen him, and it's he that talketh with thee.
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. Now this is to be settled before
anything else. Herod never did this. He never
worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ. He never saw him to be God. He never saw that he was in his
hand. You know, you'll only worship
one you have no control over. And he has all control over you. If you ever really believe that,
you'll worship. He never worshiped the son of
God. Herod did many things, but he
never worshiped. Let me tell you something else
Herod never did. Herod never confessed his sin. Now Herod felt bad about his
sin. He had a pretty strong conscience and always felt guilty, always
felt bad. And he would hear John and do
many things. And perhaps whenever his sin
got him in trouble, he would greatly regret it and wish that
it didn't happen. But he never truly confessed
his sin. Now, what do you do when you
confess your sin? Does that mean you name it all out? No, because
you don't even know what it all is. When you confess your sin,
you take side with God against yourself. He's right. And my sin is nobody's fault,
but mine. He never confessed his sin. First John one nine says, if
we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And remember this, His forgiving
us of our sin is not His response to our confession. His reason
for forgiveness is His response to His own faithfulness and to
His own justice. If we confess our sin, He is
faithful and He's just. He's faithful because He promised
He'd do it, He'd cause us to confess it, and He determined
to forgive us. He's faithful to Himself. And
he's just. He does it in a way that honors
his justice. Listen, if I'm going to be saved,
the justice of God is going to be magnified. He's going to show
off his justice. Now, Herod never ever took sides
with God against himself and confessed his sin. If he would
have, he would have been saved. As bad as he is, if he would
have, he would have been saved. Here's another thing Herod never
did. Herod never asked for mercy. He did many things. He tried
to straighten up his life. He would do religious things.
He would, he would resolve to become better. He would resolve
to be more faithful. He would be, I'm going to quit
this and I'm going to start doing that. Oh, he did many things.
But not one time did this man ever say, God, be merciful to
me, the sinner. You see, if he would have done
that, he would have had mercy. And if you say, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Do you know what? He's going
to be merciful to you. Every sinner that cries out,
God be merciful to me, the sinner, the Lord says of that sinner,
I say to you, that man went down to his house, justified. Everybody. Now somebody says
I've called for mercy and he hadn't saved me. Then you didn't
call for mercy. It was something else. I don't
know what you were doing, but you weren't asking for mercy. You're trying to strike
a deal with God. You're trying to bargain with him. You do this
and I'll do that. But no, when you cry for mercy, it's only
when you're guilty as charged. Have mercy on me. I got no rights. I got no claims.
I got nothing up. My only hope is that you in sovereign
mercy would be pleased to have mercy on me. Herod never asked for mercy. And there's something else Herod
never did. Romans 10, 13 says, whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Herod never called upon the name
of the Lord. For if he would have, he would
have been saved. And if you call upon the name
of the Lord, you shall be saved. I love this promise. Whosoever. Now I refer to this a lot and
I'm going to continue until I die. I refer to this a lot because
I don't know how many times this, this is all I got to lay hold
of myself. Whosoever, I'm a whosoever, I'm
one of them. This is better than if it said
Todd Knobber, because there might be another Todd Knobber. I might
not be the Todd Knobber you met, but I am a whosoever. Whosoever
shall fall. Calling out, Lord save me, like
Peter did when he was sinking down, Lord save me. Lord save
me. He'll call, he can call. Here's
the important part, the name of the Lord. The name of the
Lord is who He is. The name of the Lord is His attributes.
The name of the Lord is His justice, it's His sovereignty, it's His
holiness, it's His grace, it's His power, it's His wisdom. When I call upon the name of
the Lord, it doesn't just mean I'm audibly calling His name. I'm
saying, Lord, save me as an act of Your will. Will my salvation. Lord, save me as an act of Your
justice. Save me in a way that honors
Your justice. Lord, save me by Your grace. Save me by Your mercy
and Your kindness. Save me by Your wisdom. I'm calling
upon all the attributes of God to come and save me. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord. Listen to the sureness
of this word shall be saved. And you can be sure of this.
Herod never, ever called upon the name of the Lord. If he would
have, he would have been saved with me. Here's something else. Herod
never did. Acts chapter 16, verse 30, that. Philippian jailer came
in before Paul and Silas and said, sirs, what must I do to
be saved? No more important question has
ever been asked. What must I do to be saved? And I love the answer he gave. on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him who is Lord. You know, I love to call him
the Lord, don't you? He's the Lord. I just love his name. He's the
Lord. That means he's in charge. That means he's in control. That
means he's the absolute sovereign of the universe. Jesus, I love
his name, Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
Savior, for He shall save His people from their sins. Thou
shalt call His name the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is His office,
His prophet, priest, and king. Somebody told me this morning
after I preached on that passage where they gave gold and frankincense
and myrrh. Well, the gold represents His
kingship. The frankincense, for instance,
represents His priesthood. And the mirror represents his
word as a prophet. I might've got those wrong, but
that they're all in there. I mean, I can see that. Whosoever,
what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and now shall be saved. Now what's it mean to believe
on Christ? I believe in him. I believe in existence. What's
it mean to believe on him? Well, I believe in the ability
of the plane to get me where I'm going. I do. But I believe on the plane when
I get in and sit down and I wait for the plane to get me to my
destination. I don't have anything to do with
getting there. If the plane gets there, I get there. If it doesn't,
I don't. You believe on Christ when you
trust him only to get you into glory. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. Herod never believed on Christ. If he would have, he would have
been saved. Herod knew nothing of repentance. Repentance means a change of
mind. And I have no doubt that Herod changed his conduct quite
a bit. He'd change it, go back, change it, go back, change it,
go back. I need to repent of my sins.
I need to repent. I need to change all kinds of
conflict over this. But he never had a change of
mind, maybe a change of conduct, but no change of mind, a change
of mind about the character of God, where he bowed to who he
is as altogether glorious. He had thought he's too strict
and too holy and too severe and too, too, too, too much right
now. He changes his mind. He used
to dislike his sovereignty. He didn't like the idea that
this is what repentance is. I, I don't like God being sovereign.
I got no control when I repent. I like it. My mind is changed. He never had a change of mind
about himself. He never had a change of mind
about his own character. He never saw himself to be nothing
but sin before God. He never had a change of mind
about Christ. Oh, he had a change of actions
plenty of times. But he never had a true change
of mind, that repentance, that change of mind toward God. Now I understand this about repentance.
Preachers talk about repentance and say, you need to repent of
all your sins. You need to repent of your sins. Well, what in the
world does that mean? Does that mean you stop doing it? Well,
you ought to stop doing it, no doubt. But what sin in your heart
have you ever stopped? Name me one. You ever quit being angry? You ever quit being proud? You
ever quit lusting? Have you ever just been... If
it means you've got to stop it altogether, ain't nobody here
that's repented. Somebody says, well, it means
you need to be sorry. Well, how sorry do you need to be? How
sorry is sorry enough? Repentance is not being sorry
and stopping. Repentance is a change of mind. about the character of God and
his way of salvation, about myself, about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Herod knew nothing of that. Herod never loved the Lord Jesus
Christ. He never saw him as altogether
lovely. Now he heard John preaching of
Christ. And he had, like I said, some
kind of morbid fascination with John. He was impressed with John,
but he never had love. Love for the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what Paul said in verse
Corinthians chapter 16, verse 22. If any man. Love not the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him be anathema, maranatha. Let him be damned upon the return
of Christ. Oh, the crime of not loving him
who is altogether lovely. Now, this is what every believer
has in common. We love him. He is the beloved. Now Herod
was a wretched, wretched man, wasn't he? He was a conflicted
man. He was a miserable man. He was
a man who felt such guilt, whose heart ended up hardening to the
point where he said it not, the Son of God. And as bad as this
man was, I think of that passage of scripture that was either
read in the back or here. I can't remember which, but John
6, 37 was read. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise
for no reason whatsoever cast out. If Herod would have come
to Christ as an empty-handed sinner, he would not have been
cast out. May you and I do what Herod never
did. May we worship him. May we confess
our sin. May we ask for mercy. May we
call upon his name. May we believe on Him. May we
repent. May we love the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.